Gene Therapy
by Timmy811
Summary: Because no one ever said that Mad Science should be confined to the bad guys. An epic tale of genetic engineering, necromancy and bloodline theft starring Senju Tsunade. They call her the world's greatest master of medical ninjutsu for a reason.
1. Seeds of Destruction

Gene Therapy

Disclaimer: Naruto and all derivations thereof belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

Chapter 1: Seeds of Destruction

Memories flashed through Tsunade's mind. Her little brother and his cherubic smile, "I'll become like Grandpa and one day receive the Hokage name!" Naruto giving her a determined glare, "…I'm not like you…I will definitely earn the Hokage name". Dan, with that serious look on his face that made everyone stop and listen to what he had to say. "Since my sister died…Only this feeling has held me up…That's why I'll become Hokage…One who protects everyone." She could see them standing side by side proudly proclaiming "Because Hokage is my dream!"

Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to lift her head and look Orochimaru in the face. "The dream that those two bet their life on…Having those dreams come true was also my wish," Tsunade paused sensing Orochimaru's confusion, but he remained silent.

"All things that have shape eventually decay…you've said that…" she continued with tears streaming down her face. "But…only this feeling will remain eternal!" she proclaimed with the benevolent faces of Dan and Nawaki emblazoned in her mind.

Eyes narrowed, golden irises flashing, Orochimaru hissed "So, the deal is off…No choice then…We'll have to force you to do it."

Tears wiped from her eyes, Tsunade straightened and met him with a glare that would have made Naruto proud and then exploded into action. She launched into the air and brought down a falling axe kick that could decapitate an Elephant. Orochimaru and Kabuto jumped to the top of a nearby wall, dodging the blow with no time to spare, the ground where they once stood cracking apart and imploding into a crater ten meters wide.

"Let's do it, Kabuto!" Orochimaru crowed as they swayed upon the trembling wall.

"I told you …this medicine is going to be beyond bitter," the bespectacled young man replied.

"Bring it on, Orochimaru!" Tsunade screamed, her glare boring into him as her fingers flashed through signs.

'Now this is interesting' thought the Snake, 'her style is to close with the enemy for hand to hand. What is she up to?' And then the tiled roof of the wall exploded as tree trunks as thick as a man's leg burst from it, their points as sharp as lances, ripping through Orochimaru's body like needles through rotted cloth. Great gouts of scarlet blood splattering everywhere as he staggered under blows that were tearing him to pieces.

Kabuto, a hair quicker than his ill master, back flipped out of the storm of wood and shrapnel, escaping with a few lacerations to land on a nearby tree. He watched in amazement as his master struggled to pull off his body shedding technique. His crippled arms unable to assist in pulling himself out of his mouth, his attempted escape was sluggish at best as he wriggled out. Not fast enough. He was only halfway out as several more branches slammed through his torso, immobilizing him long enough for another to punch through his head, splitting it open like a pumpkin thrown against a jagged rock.

It was done, the fight over in seconds. 'We underestimated her' Kabuto thought, stunned that they'd made such a rookie mistake. 'We should have known better. She's one of the Three, no matter how many years she's spent in retirement.'

Tsunade turned her head to him, pulling away from one last lingering glance at the blood soaked corpse of her old teammate.

Kabuto's eyes narrowed, 'She's definitely uncomfortable, but nowhere near the wreck she portrayed herself earlier at the sight of blood. We've been played.'

"Well fought Lady Tsunade. You've won the day and I leave the field to you. It seems I now have a village to run." He flickered away thinking 'and red clouds in my future.'

A few minutes later Jiraiya jumped down from a nearby wall his face slack with amazement. Shizune and Naruto followed, the later gasping in surprise and moving forward to say something, before being pulled back and talked to in a quiet voice by the latter.

After one last long, sad look at the broken serpentine monstrosity that had been his friend Jiraiya turned away and looked to his other teammate who stood deep in thought as she looked off in the distance.

"How…how did you do it Tsunade? I know you didn't inherit that bloodline", he asked perplexed. "And what about the blood? You're taking this rather well."

Tsunade shook herself out of her thoughts and looked over at him. "About a year ago we had a run in with a bounty hunter. Shizune was nearly killed and I barely got us out of there alive. It was overcome my fear or let her die..."

The scene came flooding back with all its horror and all the fear she'd felt. The fear of blood and the fear of failure. Shizune giving a hacking blood flecked cough. Her black robes riddled with round holes and soaked in blood. Tsunade pushed it back down. Balling the fear up and burying it deep inside just like she did that day.

"Huh...I always knew your debts would get you in trouble someday", Jiraiya sighed. "That bounty hunter must have been something to give you problems, but it looks like he's done us a service of sorts. ...That doesn't explain the wood though," he questioned.

Tsunade looked back at the body of Orochimaru. "He sowed the seeds of his destruction long ago with his inhumanity and greed, and ensured it here with his arrogance."

Jiraiya started in surprise. "He sowed the seeds...are you saying what I think you are?"

"Yes," she answered with a hint of shame in her voice. "After Orochimaru fled Konoha, the Third ordered me to investigate his medical experiments and try to figure out what techniques he was working on, and whether or not he'd been successful. It quickly became obvious what he was after...my grandfather's Mokuton techniques." She shook her head in disgust, recalling the small bodies twisted in the agony of their last moments, their faces frozen in fear as they died.

She continued, "I came across the genome sequence of my grandfather during my investigation, and of course the sequence of the lone survivor. It was a simple thing to compare it to mine. As a direct descendant, I was significantly more compatible then Tenzo. The Mokuton bloodline relies upon several recessive genes, all of which you need to posses two copies of to express the ability. I had single copies of some of the genes in question, two for one gene in particular, and none for another. It wasn't difficult to whip up a retroviral cocktail to splice the rest into my genome."

Jiraiya whistled in appreciation, "You sure do like to roll the dice Princess! That was dangerous."

"I had a fever and some shakes, but not near as bad as Tenzou," she said. "I'm the best doctor there is and I had the advantage of being a blood relative. My family has always had strong chakras and skill with nature transformation."

She had a troubled look in her eyes when as she said "I justified using such tainted research by telling myself that the death of those children shouldn't go in vain...but I'm afraid that I was just being selfish."

Jiraiya snorted dismissively, "Pfft...You're being too hard on yourself Princess. You didn't want those kids to die, and you would have stopped it if you could. But we're ninja. And when we see a chance to become stronger we take it. You did nothing wrong."

"Thanks Jiraiya, I knew I could rely on you to buck me up," she replied, giving him a small smile of gratitude.

"I am a charming devil aren't I" he preened, "Still, I'm impressed. It looks like you've got the ability down as well as Tenzo and he's been racking up some serious combat experience."

"I had over ten years Jiraiya", Tsunade said dryly. "And I copied my grandfather's scrolls before I left. I'm one of the Three, even studying halfheartedly it was inevitable I'd become at least this skilled. Even the average shinobi who's mastered one nature chakra would be well prepared to master an advanced nature bloodline if he was gifted with one out of the blue."

"Hey! Are we done with all the big words and the gloom and doom yet? I hardly understood half that conversation," Naruto busted into the conversation with a pout.

"You got revenge for the Third Hokage! We should celebrate! ...Right after I win my bet!" he said with a cheeky grin. One hand seal later and there was a shadow clone to his left. With its help to mold chakra, Naruto soon had a tight, whirling blue ball of chakra in his palm. One which he used to disintegrate a piece of rubble with glee. "Look at that!" he shouted.

Jiraiya slapped him on the back and gave him an approving "That's my boy!"

Tsunade stared at the boy in shock, 'I can't believe this hyperactive knucklehead thought of such a clever work around of the control problem.' She couldn't help but smile at his exuberance though, 'he really does remind me of Nawaki.'

'I suppose this is a sign… the dream of my beloved, my brother, and my forefathers is my dream now and I can't let them down. ' she thought as she made her decision. "Well" she said as she lifted her necklace off, "a bets a bet." She placed the necklace on him, bent down and kissed his forehead. "Become a good man; continue working hard, and one day you'll definitely become the Sixth Hokage."

Blushing red, he stuttered, "You...You got it!" as he put his hands behind his head and smiled toothily.

Jiraiya's smile grew large as he asked, "Sixth Hokage? Does that mean we have a Fifth?"

"Yup! And you better refer to me with respect now" she answered with sassy grin.

"Hey! If your Hokage now you're in charge of promotions right? You gotta make me a chunin when we get back!" Naruto demanded.

He rambled on excitedly "I just mastered a super-awesome A class technique and I can already summon the boss toad, Gamabunta! I'm totally ready to go on the big time missions. The road to Hokage is paved with A and S class missions!" He finished with a satisfied grin, nodding his head as he imagined his future inauguration in front of an adoring crowd.

Tsunade burst out laughing, taking glee in bursting his bubble. "Ha! You go on S class missions! Don't be ridiculous, you're just a kid. You've got heart, but C class missions with an occasional B while under supervision is the level you're at right now."

Naruto's face reddened once more, this time in anger. "What!" He shouted, pointing at her. "I fought Garaa and Shukaku during the invasion, and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death! Those got to be S class, and hell, my first mission outside of Konoha ended up with my team fighting Momochi Zabuza to the death!"

"Ah huh", Tsunade replied skeptically, cocking an eyebrow at him. "And who killed him? You? Or your Jonin sensei?"

Naruto's grin slid a bit off his face as he looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well, I guess Kakashi sensei did most of the work."

"That's what I thought." She said with satisfaction, and then paused, her face becoming speculative. "He must have had a nice bounty on his head, probably 50 million or so. Must have been nice to split a score like that at your age."

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, who was just finishing sealing Orochimaru in a scroll, and asked. "How much is this degenerate worth? Last I checked it was a cool 100 million Ryo."

"That was before the attack on the village." Jiraiya answered. "It was doubled after that. You can pay back your debts now ten times over!" He added with satisfaction.

"Yatta!" she screamed with girlish glee, silly grin plastered over face as she kicked up her heels "We're hitting the pachinko parlor tonight!"

Shizune looked on the whole display with dismay. "She never learns does she", she whispered to Ton Ton who bweed in sympathy.

"Bounty?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. "We didn't split any bounty."

Tsunade looked at the boy with surprise, "Kakashi kept the money all to himself? You'd think with a prize like the Kubikiribocho he'd be a little more generous."

Naruto shook his head and crossed his arms. "As far as I know no one collected a bounty. We just buried Zabuza and Haku and used his sword as headstone."

Tsunade's mouth dropped open, and she worked it a couple of times before spluttering "He…he used the sword of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist as a headstone and just buried the master! That's…that's almost criminal negligence!"

Naruto cocked his head, with a puzzled look on his face. "Eh? What were we supposed to do with them?"

"The Kubikiribocho is a national treasure of the Village Hidden in the Mist, any ninja would love to wield it. I can't believe Kakashi just left it." Tsunade answered, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Jiraiya chose that moment to interject. "Knowing Kakashi, he probably didn't want to lug that big thing around with him, let alone fight with it regularly. Not everyone is as strong as you Princess," he said pointedly.

"That lazy ass, if he trained more he wouldn't have got beaten into a coma. After I get back to Konoha and fix him up I'm going to whip him back into shape," she exclaimed, causing Jiraiya to wince in sympathy for Kakashi.

"Hey! Don't talk about Kakashi sensei like that! He's awesome. I don't see what was so great about that big dumb sword anyways." Naruto said defensively, a scowl marring his face.

"If that blade gets chipped in battle it will drink the blood of its victims and regenerate using the iron in their blood." Tsunade answered, causing Naruto to look a little green around the gills. "All of the Seven Swords have special powers, and all are wielded by powerful ninja. Even if Kakashi wasn't interested in the bounty, he should have brought the sword and the body back to the village. You never know what kind of techniques and secrets you can learn from a corpse." She lectured.

"He didn't seem to have any secret powers, he was just really strong." Naruto objected. "Now Haku, he…" Naruto stopped. 'Shit. I shouldn't have said that. She's going to want to do something weird to his body', he thought in dismay.

"He what?" Tsunade asked with interest, picking up on the boy's discomfort. 'Naruto must think he had something we could use'

Naruto got a mulish look on his face and dug in his heels, "I'm not telling. You're just going to dig up his body and desecrate his corpse. He may have been an enemy but he was a really nice guy who helped me develop my ninja way. He doesn't deserve that."

"Now that's not true Naruto", Tsunade chided with a hurt look. "I treat the dead with respect" she insisted, though she added 'unless they were jerks' to herself. "Any study I do will be a lot less invasive if I know what I'm looking for before hand. Are you going to make me ask Kakashi the details when we get back?" she pouted.

Naruto wasn't really convinced, but he knew she was going to get the answer eventually. "He…he could make ice and control it. Flying needles and mirrors he could move through."

Tsunade gave him a warm smile as she said, "We'll that's an advanced nature bloodline, all I'll need from your friend is a couple of joints from a pinkie finger. That's not so bad is it?"

Jiraiya's face took on a worried cast "You're not thinking of doing something reckless are you Princess? The Mokuton bloodline is one thing, the Hyoton bloodline another." He looked over to Shizune for support.

She nodded her head and answered with a concerned frown, "Jiraiya is right Lady Tsunade, your body won't be as well suited to a foreign bloodline as it was to your grandfather's. You might end up like those poor children."

"Don't be such a mother hen Shizune," Tsunade said dismissively. "It's not as if I won't do extensive research before trying anything out. I don't see what the problem is, it's Water and Wind right? I've already got half those genes already. And it's not as if no one's had two advanced nature bloodline before, the new Mizukage has two."

"Hmm" Shizune hummed in disapproval, but as she often did her master just ignored her.

Tsunade turned back to Naruto, "Where are they buried Naruto?" she asked.

He paused, picturing the scene in his mind. Fresh graves, the newly turned earth and the poignancy of loss. "Off to the left side of the new, big bridge to Wave Country if you're coming towards it from the Fire Country side"

Tsunade frowned at the news, "That's two days out of our way to get there and another two back. Jiraiya, take one of your frogs and head down there. Pick up the sword and a bone sample from Naruto's friend and try to make it to Konoha by my inauguration ceremony. I'm going to make it as flashy as possible." She smirked. "Our enemies and friends need to know that Konoha is in capable hands." 'I won't let Dan or Nawaki down, I'm going to be a Hokage my Grandfather would be proud of', she thought fiercely.

"Sure thing Tsunade, it'll be cutting it fine, but I'll make it in time." Jiraiya answered as he pitched the scroll containing Orochimaru to her. "Keep an eye on the brat for me; he's a magnate for a trouble." He said as he ruffled the boy's golden hair.

Naruto smacked the hand away with irritation, and glared at his master. "Look who's talking you Old Perv! On just this mission you fell for Itachi's sexy distraction, stole my money, and got poisoned by the Old Lady here!"

Narrowing her eyes at him, "Who's an old lady!" Tsunade growled, leaking killing intent for good measure.

Naruto started, shivering from the hostility. It felt like her eyes were cutting into him like a knife. "Uh…well, let's change the subject! You better treat Haku well or I'll kick your ass you Old Perv! Don't think I won't find out." Naruto finished, gesturing theatrically at Jiraiya.

"Yeah, yeah. I promise I won't treat him roughly." A few hand seals later and a cloud of gray smoke, and Jiraiya was standing on an orange frog about the size of a two story house. "See you at the party Princess!" He shouted, and then the toad was off, bounding into the distance in huge leaps that ate up a hundred meters at a time.

Tsunade flipped the corpse laden scroll to Shizune who juggled it and Ton Ton before managing to shove it into her pack. "Let's go Shizune, Naruto…I've got a village to govern and patients to heal," and with a smile they were on their way.

The great gates of Konoha were coming into view bathed in the soft light of morning, they and the wall they belonged to towering over the flat countryside and magnificently framed by the Hokage Mountain dominating the background. That at least hadn't changed. The couple of Chunin at the gate though had. One had a long shock of hair hanging done over the right side of his face. 'I wonder if he lost the eye' Tsunade thought idly before brushing it off as the vagaries of fashion. His partner's face was decorated with a bandage that stretched across his face and over the bridge of his nose.

Tsunade had slipped away from the group before dawn, wanting to enter the village by herself and get to make her own assessment of it, without being shepherded around and given the tour. She smiled as she thought of how Shizune must have panicked upon waking and finding her gone. 'She probably thought I decided to run off after all'.

The men at the gate certainly noticed her. Eyes flicking up and down her form, mostly down. 'Pigs' she thought with distaste. They didn't seem to recognize her, but it had been a long time since she left. 'They must have been only genin then', she thought. They would have had little chance to interact with her unless they ended up in critical condition.

Izumo got to his feet, outwardly showing a smile but inwardly concerned, while Kotetsu casually putting himself in a position to back him up. 'I don't recognize her…though I feel I should. There's something about her and it's not just her beauty. She's obviously strong. No headband though, that's not good' he worried. "Good morning Miss, please present affiliation, name and reason for visit."

Tsunade smirked at the question and at the concern he was hiding. "Affiliation?" She asked with dry sarcasm, "The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Name? Senju Tsunade. Reason for visit? Cash in on Orochimaru's bounty and attend my inauguration as Hokage"

The way the boy's mouth dropped open at her name and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull at her reason warmed her heart. "Would you like see the body for confirmation? I have to warn you, it's not in the best of condition, I wouldn't want viscera to leak all over you guard post" she teased.

The guard spluttered, "That…that won't be necessary Lady Tsunade. I recognize you now; it's just been a long time. Would you like me to escort you to the Hokage tower?' he asked. Of course it was a mere formality, she could have been someone using the transformation technique after all, and who knew what could really be in that scroll. A visitor like her had to have an eye kept on her until some one higher up who had known Tsunade could vouch that it was really her.

'All well and good' Tsunade thought, 'but…"I prefer not". And with that she flickered away in a swirl of leaves.

She reappeared on top of the Hokage tower a second later. It had taken a fair amount of chakra, the gate was a few miles away and at least fifty meters lower in elevation. The gate chunin wouldn't be able to trace her. She leaned on the railing and looked out over the bustling village. The damage from the recent fighting was clear, but repairs were already well under way and people still moved to and fro on their day's errands. They weren't letting the bad times get them down. 'Well, time for the bad times to end, Tsunade's back in town' she thought confidently.

Two ANBU members flickered into being on either side of her. She turned her head to the young woman on the right with purple hair, "We'll Yuago-chan you've certainly become a fine ninja. ANBU and a fifteen second response time. Pretty good, but I'd like to see that under ten. Someone like me could have already went on a rampage."

Yuago started in surprise "Lady Tsunade?" she gasped.

"Please don't be so reckless Lady Tsunade" the cat masked captain to her left implored "You're lucky one of the rookies wasn't on station. It would be embarrassing for you to be attacked by your own ANBU ahead of your own inauguration."

"Embarrassing for them maybe" she said mischievously. Tsunade straightened up and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "The village has changed quite a bit Otomatsu, there's been hard times of late. But starting today, the village is my responsibility as the Fifth Hokage and I won't let my forefathers down. Summon the Elders, the Jonin Commander and the ANBU Head for an immediate meeting. Time to get down to business," she declared.

"As you command" they answered, and they flickered away in a puff of smoke.

Half an hour later as she was doing a quick survey of the Hokage's office, Shizune burst into the office huffing and puffing, Ton Ton bweeing in her arms. "Lady Tsunade! How could you?" she protested. "Leaving us behind like that was just cruel."

Tsunade just brushed off her disapproval, "Ah, Shizune. Just in time. Looks like a lot of paper work has been piling up. Get to work on it," she commanded.

Shizune gaped at her "What…but these are on your desk for a reason. I'm not qualified nor authorized to make these decisions," she objected.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Sarutobi sensei must have spoiled the bureaucrats during his second term. When he was young he made the big decisions, delegated the rest to assistants and spent most of his time training us and going on the most important missions." Memories of those halcyon days surfaced in her mind, of the team out on the training field beneath a blue sky, learning something exciting and new, but she quickly quashed them. Thoughts of sensei and Orochimaru were just too tinged with melancholy these days. With a half shake of her head she continued, "I plan to do the same thing. I've got too many important things to do than stay in the office. Operations at the hospital, research on the Hyoton genome, training a new apprentice, getting back into fighting trim and carrying out some S class to make a statement that the Leaf village is still on its game."

"But you don't have a new apprentice!" Shizune challenged, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I'm sure I can find someone suitable." Tsunade replied nonchalantly, smiling at the indignant squeak that Shizune responded with. "If you really need your hand held Shizune, I can leave a shadow clone with you. One soldier pill will keep it going for three or four days."

Shizune scowled, offended by the implication that she was behaving like a petulant child "Those are expensive! You shouldn't waste them so flagrantly just to get out of work."

"I'll still get the experience once it dispels. This isn't avoiding work, it's working smart to get twice as much done." Tsunade lectured. "Now get that stuff sorted out, I have a meeting with the Elders in five minutes and I'd like to know what needs addressing immediately once I'm done" and with that Tsunade strode out of the room leaving Shizune to look at the paper strewn desk disconsolately. She looked down in despair at Ton Ton who nuzzled her in sympathy, "It's just not fair, she's using my sense of responsibility against me."

Two long days later, after all the meetings, Shinzune scoldings, and examinations at the hospital, Tsunade finally stood once again on top of the Hokage tower in front of a thronging crowd. Jiraiya stood on her left, cutting an over dramatic pose such that you'd think he was celebrating his own coronation. He'd been true to his word and arrived in the nick of time just an hour ago, mission successful. 'Well, time to make a good impression,' she thought with a little smirk.

She bent down and clapped her hands together and then picked up Zabuza's oversized carving knife from where it had been leaning against the lower railing and slung it over her left shoulder. It was crackling with electric blue light as she channeled lightning chakra down the blade. Then she stepped up on the first rung of the railing and vaulted over it, landing on a rapidly growing block of wood that had sprouted from where she had stood. Knees slightly bent, she rode it all the way down as it twisted down to five meters above the square in front of the stunned crowd.

And then she spoke, clear and loud and with ringing conviction. "I am Senju Tsunade and the blood of my grandfather runs strong in my veins. But it is not his blood upon which the foundation of the Leaf Village rests, but upon his ideals. The Will of Fire burns in the heart of every Konoha shinobi and inspires us to fight and sacrifice for the village, for our comrades and for the next generation. This fire, once banked in my own heart has been rekindled into a raging inferno... The village attacked and Sarutobi sensei assassinated, how could these events not inspire horror in me and cause me to reflect on all that I and my loved ones have sacrificed for this village. To reflect and to judge their efforts worthy and to hope that one day my efforts may be judged the same. I will spare no effort to guide this village towards peace and prosperity and to protect it from those that wish it harm. Anyone who thinks they can attack Konoha and get away with it, be warned… you will suffer the same fate as Orochimaru. Dead by my hand," she said, ending her speech with a hard edge.

The finality of that statement echoed in the silence that followed and then the crowd erupted in cheers. She could see Naruto in the front row jumping up and down like some kind of demented orange spider monkey, his pink haired team mate half heartedly trying to hold him down, while wearing her own beaming grin. 'Sakura, was it? She might have potential if she puts her nose to the grind stone,' Tsunade contemplated. She waved the crowd to silence and with a cocky grin announced "I'm glad you approve, so let's celebrate! It's time to hit the bar!" And as she hopped of the board and put action to words, she could hear Shizune wailing in protest from the top of the tower.

Akatsuki Bingo Book, 2nd edition, page 14

Senju, Tsunade

Village – Konoha

Rank – Kage

Age – 51 (Appearance 24)

Blood Type – B

Sensei – Sarutobi, Hiruzen

Nature Chakra Affinity – Water

Nature Chakra Learned – Lightning

Nature Chakra Affinity (Gene Spliced) – Earth, Wood

Abilities of Note – Superhuman strength, she can kill most shinobi with one blow. Unrivaled medical ninjutsu, she can heal almost anything and is famed for her antidotes. She has achieved significant mastery of Mokuton ninjutsu.

Summoning Contract – Slugs

Tools of Note – Kubikiribocho

Miscellaneous – The 1st Hokage could bend tailed beasts to his will. Whether Tsunade can replicate this technique is unknown, however the Nine Tails jinchuruki has been seen wearing her grandfather's fabled necklace which lends credence to this possibility. This makes her uniquely threatening to our organization.


	2. Dust to Dust, Ashes to Earth

Gene Therapy Chapter 2 – Dust to Dust, Ashes to Earth

Two Years Later

A pane of ice hung in the air a few centimeters off the ground, two meters tall and half as wide, it was clear as glass and tinted the faintest pale blue. It held a reflection as perfect as a polished mirror. And it was mocking her.

Tsunade frowned at her reflection, and it of course frowned back. "This is just so frustrating!" she said in consternation. "I was doing so well and now I've just hit a road block that I can't seem to get around." She continued to mutter to herself as she slowly walked around the ice sheet, inspecting it from every angle.

"I don't know if you were doing that well Princess, you almost died six months ago splicing that bloodline into yourself." Jiraiya said from his perch on a low hanging branch in the lee of a large tree off to the left. Tsunade had noticed him a couple of minutes ago and had wondered if he was going to reveal himself or just ogle her. It was flattering of course, but it was also disappointingly juvenile.

"I wasn't in that much danger Jiraiya, as usual you exaggerate," she replied. "It was serious, but there was no danger of me dieing with Shizune and Sakura-chan there".

"Could have fooled me," he shot back. Pictures of her tossing and turning, her sweat stained fevered face straining as she twisted in bed filled his head. He'd stayed by her side for two whole days until the fever broke and Shizune pronounced her out of danger.

Tsunade waved his concerns off. "Be that as it may, I recovered quickly and learning to use the Wind element has come as easing as breathing. I can sharpen the Kubikiribocho to an edge that would make the Raikage wary. But dealing with his lightning armor is one thing, hitting him is another. The only one in the village who could do that is probably Gai."

Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow at her, "And how are those mirrors supposed to help?" he asked curiously.

She leaned back against the mirror and said "According to Sasuke, the Hyoton bloodline is in its own way even more incredible than the Mokuton bloodline", and with that she allowed herself to slide back into the mirror, the surface rippling as if it was water rather than solid ice.

Jiraiya leaned forward in interest, and then jumped down from his branch to get a closer look. "Now that is interesting," he said peering into the mirror. Rather than his reflection, he saw the enticing form of Tsunade.

She stepped out of the mirror as smoothly as she entered, "I can do the same with the wood I create if it's big enough, phase in and phase out. If the piece of wood is really big, I can enter it at one point, travel through it and exit it at another point. Haku could do more. He could enter one mirror, create another a considerable distance away and completely unconnected, teleport to it and then exit it. A poor man's Flying Thunder God technique if you will," Tsunade explained in a dry tone.

Jiraiya's mouth dropped open in surprise and he exclaimed "Space time ninjutsu via an advanced chakra bloodline! I've never heard of that before and we faced the Yuki clan plenty of times during the Third Shinobi World War."

"This kid was a true genius," Tsunade answered with grudging admiration. "Naruto said he was an orphan whose abilities with his bloodline were self taught. I'm in a similar position and I've been able to replicate most known abilities. Creating ice, manipulating it to form flying needles or spikes…I've even managed to make these mirrors. But I've no idea how to go further from here," she finished, looking down with an annoyed frown.

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders apologetically, "I don't know what to tell you Tsunade. I'm pretty good with seals, but Minato was the one to go to for advanced space time ninjutsu. Without being able to talk to someone who's performed the technique I don't know if you'll ever get it down."

Tsunade's head jerked up like she'd been stabbed. "What did you…?" she stopped and bit her lip, looking back down and to the left as Jiraiya looked at her oddly. "You know, Jiraiya that just might be possible," she said softly, trolling for a reaction.

He recoiled in disgust, emphatically denouncing the idea. "No. Absolutely not! Not only does that technique violate the cycle of death and rebirth and the law of entropy, it requires human sacrifice and enslaves a soul's will to the bidding of the master. I can't believe you'd suggest this Princess!" he said aghast.

"Ah, but you're forgetting something important Jiraiya," she chided waging a finger at him.

"What?" he asked eyeing her suspiciously.

"We're shinobi, we kill people and break the laws of physics all the time," she replied sardonically. "I wouldn't use anybody except a criminal whose hands are bathed in blood. Furthermore, as you noted you're quite good with seals. Just because my granduncle used a seal that completely enslaved the soul of the resurrected, doesn't mean we have to, do we?" she asked archly, tilting her head questioningly at him.

He stepped back a bit, chin in hand as he contemplated this. Then he nodded and said, "No, I don't think we do. It's been a long time since I've read that part of the forbidden scroll but I think I could write a seal that gives the target free will," he trailed off, obviously deep in thought. Then he turned his eyes back to her, "Of course then you have to convince the Ice kid to cooperate with you. He might not be pleased with being brought back to life to work for the folks that killed him," he said patronizingly.

"Obviously, but I already have an idea how to do that" she replied. 'Really, if he just stopped to think about what we know about the kid and how we know it, he'd realize the answer,' she thought in amusement. "And if that doesn't work out I can always simply release the technique," she assured him.

Jiraiya reluctantly nodded in agreement, "I suppose you're right Princess. With that adjustment the technique isn't really that bad and the information to be gained is priceless. Still, we're going to have to keep this under the rug. The Elders will definitely not approve."

"Let me worry about those old windbags" Tsunade answered, waving her hand in a dismissive little circle. "You just get to work on that seal."

* * *

><p>"Why are you dragging me down to this dreary old dungeon Tsunade?" Naruto whined as they walked down one of the myriad concrete overhanging walk ways that crisscrossed the cavernous underground complexes beneath Konoha. One could see walkways and dripping pipes winding every which way in the distance, from the distant ceiling down to the floor so distant its existence was a blurred haze. Every once in a while the thin thread of a scream could be heard in the midst of the stagnant air currents. "I'm a frontline fighter. I just don't think I'm suited for T&amp;I."<p>

Tsunade ruffled his hair and dodged his attempt to swat her hand away, saying "Oh, I definitely think you'll like what you're going to see today. No doubt about it." And with that she unlocked and opened the door they'd come to at the end of the walk way. It revealed a row of grimy cells, all empty but one. The bars and the walls were covered in intricate seals designed to suppress the chakra of their prisoners. Inside the occupied cell, chained to the wall was a scrawny little man with haunted eyes. Covered in cuts and disfiguring burns, the man had obviously been tortured within an inch of his life.

Naruto jerked to a halt and turned to Tsunade, looking at her cockeyed. "Uh…I gotta say Granny, you don't know my tastes as well as I thought." He stammered in a shell shocked tone.

Tusande slapped him upside the back of his head. "Dumbass, that's not what I meant. And cut the act, I know you've seen worse. This scumbag's an academy washout turned drifter and serial killer from the Earth country who preyed on children. Suffice to say, Anko-chan wasn't pleased to hear about what he done and took her time to welcome him accordingly."

Naruto shuddered and turned back to look at the man, "I bet she did" he said as he flashed back to her welcoming him to the Chunin Exams. The flashing steel of a thrown kunai cutting past his face. Those soft curves pressing up against his back as her tongue lapped up the blood trickling down his cheek.

Shaking the memory off and hoping Tsunade didn't notice his blush he continued, "You know, I'd say I'm surprised she got her hooks into Sasuke, but in his own way he's just as dark and weird as she is." He smiled to himself as he thought of the likely reaction the two would give to that. 'He'd grunt in annoyance and pretend it didn't bother him, while she'd revel in the label and thank me for it.' Thinking of Anko though, a question occurred to him. "Should she really be doing this kind of work while she's six months pregnant?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Kunoichi aren't made of glass Naruto, she could keep this punk under control if she was in labor."

"Can't argue with that Granny. Seriously though if this isn't what you wanted me to see, what is?" he asked in confusion. 'There just isn't anything else here,' he thought as he carefully inspected the room once more.

"Well, one could say that it starts off with what could be called an unusual method of execution," she answered as she pulled out a scroll from jacket. It had been a little more than a month since her little conversation with Jiraiya, and he'd finally come through. She was ready to act. Naruto watched in interest as she deactivated the containment seals and opened the cell. Then Tsunade unfurled the scroll, holding it in her left hand while pulling out a small vial in her left. The scroll had a sealing array inscribed on it, an array that bore a vague similarity to one Naruto recognized.

'This is a summoning technique…what could she be calling' Naruto thought, perturbed. 'Is this dude gonna get eaten alive?'

She kneeled and placed the scroll down before the groaning prisoner and emptied the contents of the vial upon it. Black ink like runes flowed off the scroll onto the grime encrusted floor, forming eldritch seals as they surrounded him on all sides, even crawling up the back of the cell. Five hand seals latter she clapped her hands and flecks of ash and dust began to rise around him. They quickly spiraled around, becoming a virtual blizzard as they encased him like a living tomb, the man wailing in anguish as Naruto watched on in unease.

'This just freaky' Naruto thought, starring at the bizarre spectacle in confusion. "Wait a minute, is that…?" he trailed off dumbfounded as the ash quickly took on the form of another, someone whose silhouette was burned into his mind forever.

"Haku!" Naruto shouted in amazement, taking a few stunned steps forward.

The boy from Kiri seemed to shake himself out of a daze, looking down at his hands and then up at Tsunade in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, and then gave a start as he noticed Naruto behind her. "Naruto, what's going on? Where am I?" he asked. His mind was spinning, 'Did I survive somehow and just wake from coma? Naruto looks a couple of years older.' He felt something slide into the back of his head, such a peculiar sensation. Not painful, just odd. 'What is that face for?' he thought, watching Naruto's face take on a horrified cast, and then shift back to amazement.

Naruto, having watched Tsunade slide a tagged kunai into the back of Haku's head, then watched in astonishment as the cracks in Haku's skin closed up and color returned to his skin and then his clothes.

For once Uzamaki Naruto was stunned speechless, Tsunade had never thought she'd see the day. "Where you are, is Konoha," she answered Haku's question. "What's going on is I've resurrected you with my granduncle's forbidden technique. However, rather than use a seal to enslave you to my will, I used one that grants you freedom. All I ask is that you serve the Leaf Village loyally, as you served Zabuza."

"Resurrection? Can such a technique truly exist?" Haku asked in awe, running his hands up and down his arms and then his sides as if he was making sure he was real.

"Well it's not truly life, but it's not death either" Tsunade said softly. "If your body is torn apart it'll regenerate. Your chakra will also continuously regenerate as if you were alive, well feed and well rested, so you'll be able to fight at full strength far longer than when you were alive. If despite that you do end up running out of chakra you won't die, you'll just be incapable of casting jutsu until your reserves have had a chance to build back up. Those are the good things," she explained.

"And the bad?" Haku asked with foreboding. He knew nothing that good came without a drawback.

In a solemn voice she replied, "You'll hunger and be unable to eat, thirst and be unable to drink. You'll love and be unable to consummate your desire, live and be unable to grow…and to die." There was an uncomfortable pause. "In many ways you'll be the perfect shinobi, yet maintain our greatest flaw. We are people and people are driven by our emotions."

"That's bullshit!" Naruto exploded. "Feelings aren't a weakness! You can't be strong if you don't have a reason. That's what the Will of Fire is all about."

Haku smiled at him, "Yes, Naruto is right. I'll stay here and protect him, and hopefully the rest of his precious people can become mine. These bonds are all that I need to sustain myself."

Tsuande grinned and reached into her jacket to pull out a Konoha headband. "Well, that's what I'd hoped to hear, but I didn't want to sugar coat anything. You should know what you're getting into."

Haku took the headband from her, and began to take off his old Kiri one. "And what exactly am I getting into? I'm sure you didn't summon me merely for Naruto's sake. There must have been more powerful ninja you could have revived if you were going so far as to use a forbidden technique."

Tsunade was impressed, "Very perceptive" she nodded. "As you may have guessed, I am Tsunade, the world's greatest master of medical ninjutsu. I've managed to splice the genes bearing the Mokuton and Hyoton bloodlines into my genome. I've managed to master the former, but have had more difficulty doing the same with the later. I'd like your help."

"As you wish Lady Tsunade" he murmured, tying the Leaf headband tight.

"Wait a minute" Naruto blurted out. "Back up there. You could have brought back other ninja?" he said with hope clear in his voice.

"Well… yes, as long as I have a sample of their DNA and a live sacrifice it's doable if the target's soul isn't sealed away in some other way," Tsunade answered, unsure of where this was going. To the side Haku looked at her askance upon the mention of a live sacrifice.

Words exploded from Naruto in a rush as he asked desperately, "What about my parents! Do you know who they were? Is it possible to bring them back?"

Tsunade pressed her left hand against her head and sighed in exasperation. 'I should have realized that would be his reaction,' she chided herself. 'Poor kid's been alone his whole life, of course he'd want to see his parents.' "Ugh…this is gonna be a long story so sit down and shut up" she groaned.

Naruto exalted, "So that means yes!"

"Do What I Say", she growled, overloading her words with killing intent.

Naruto blanched, "Ah…sure Tsunade, whatever you say" he said as he sat down on the floor.

"Now I didn't want to tell you this until you were a bit older, but you're a chunin, so I guess it's okay. I can't resurrect your father, and it's for a very good reason. His soul is sealed in the belly of the Death God." Tsunade explained, raising a hand to forestall the obvious question. "It was the price he had to pay to seal the Nine Tailed Fox into his son, the only one he knew could bear the burden" Tsunade told him, stopping there knowing that she wouldn't be able to forestall the next outburst.

Haku jerked in surprise next to Tsunade at the mention of the Nine Tail Fox, and looked at Naruto with sadness, finally understanding how he had been beaten and doubtlessly realizing how Naruto had been treated.

Naruto simply looked confused at first, "Huh? That doesn't make sense…" he stumbled to a halt, and then his eyes flew open wide. "Not unless my father was the Fourth!" he shouted in surprise.

"You got it kid" Tsunade said, relieved she didn't have to spell it out for him.

"But then why? Why didn't I know? Why was I treated so badly?" he asked in sad desperation, pain shining in his deep blue eyes.

Tsunade smile became melancholic, "Few people knew; the Third, Jiraiya and me, a couple of others. That's it." She explained, "The fourth had so many enemies. If they had known you existed, the villages of Hidden Rock and Hidden Could wouldn't have rested until you were dead." Watching him suffer like this was tearing her up inside. 'He doesn't deserve this' she thought mournfully.

"And the best way to keep a secret is for no one to know", Naruto added grimly.

Tsunade agreed, gently saying "That's true, but don't despair. Your mother's another story. She, we can probably bring back."

"We can?" he asked breathlessly.

Tsunade gave him a warm smile, "Yes, and she was a lot like you. A hyperactive knucklehead who just couldn't be kept down, no matter what happened to her. She loved you very much and couldn't wait to meet you."

"Really?" Naruto jumped up; his customary smile snapping back in place. "That's great! I can't wait to meet her. And we can bring back your special people as well Granny, and that bastard Sasuke's and even Kakashi sensei's!" he rambled on.

Tsunade drew in a deep breath, 'Dan… Nawaki,' she thought, their faces flashing in front of her eyes. She couldn't deny that she wanted to, but she had to put her foot down before things got out of hand. "Naruto, we're already breaking village law by bringing Haku back. I can explain that and your mother on narrow national security grounds and ask for exemptions based on that," she said thinking specifically on Kushina's experience as the Nine Tails host. "But if we go around flagrantly resurrecting everyone we ever liked, there's going to be a harsh reaction. The Daimyo and the Fire Temple will get dragged into it and it'll cause a lot of political infighting that could weaken the village," Tsunade explained.

Naruto smirked, "Take it from someone who's broken a lot of rules Tsunade. It's always easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission. After all, as much as they disapprove the means, are they really going to ask you to dispel some badass unkillable ninja that are loyal to the village? Old one eye would pitch a fit!"

Tsunade opened her mouth to object and then closed it. 'He's right' she thought in surprise, 'Danzo would be my biggest supporter on this issue, and he's by far the one most likely to find out about this.'

Naruto seized on the hesitation, "See! You know I'm right. The most they'll do is forbid you from making any more, so lets go all out before we get caught." he insisted. "You deserve to be happy for once."

"I…" Tsunade stuttered to a stop, taking on a look of contemplation. 'I do deserve this, and it will help the village,' she told herself. 'Each and every single one involved with me and team 7 that I would feel comfortable bringing back offers something valuable to the village.' She flicked her eyes down to Naruto's, "bring Sasuke and Kakashi here at this time tomorrow. ANBU division Phoenix will be born that day"

Naruto exploded out of his seat, wrapped her in a hug and spun her around. "That's great Granny! You won't regret this!" He put her down and then he was racing off to do who knows what.

'Probably going to tease Sasuke and hold the fact that he has a secret over his head.'

Tsunade shook her head and smiled at his antics, and pulled out an ANBU mask. The stylized face looking vaguely like a snow bear. She tossed it to Haku, "Put that on and let's head out on to the Senju training yard. I want to get some work in before I hit the cemetery."


	3. Fanning the Flames

Gene Therapy Chapter 3 – Fanning the Flames

* * *

><p>A rather disparate group walked down the myriad corridors and walkways of Konoha's underbelly. Tsunade was yawning, tired from five hours of intense training followed by a stint of grave robbing and all the difficulty involved in coordinating a covert prisoner transfer with Ibiki and Anko. Moving four death row inmates in secret when all the prison guards were ninja wasn't easy.<p>

Naruto was almost quivering with energy, it was clear that he couldn't wait for what was about to happen.

Sasuke on the other hand was eyeing him with annoyed suspicion. 'That boy still has a hard edge to him,' Tsunade thought. 'Still, it's clear he has mellowed out some since he got together with Anko. I'm glad I set that up,' she reflected, pleased with herself. Sasuke had been an unstable, angry young man when she'd meet him. The kind whom idle time could only embolden to do something foolish. With Kakashi busy doing high class missions, she'd needed someone to train him into the ground when Kakashi wasn't available. Anko had been the perfect choice. She knew dangerous and forbidden techniques, she could teach him how to summon snakes and to manipulate the cursed seal without being overwhelmed by the darkness. Most importantly she was beautiful and willing to do anything for the woman that had killed Orochimaru. 'I just wish that woman wouldn't give me after action reports with such relish and in such detail,' she thought, embarrassment staining her cheeks red.

Kakashi on the other hand simply looked curious. He'd seen so much in his life that he hardly expected to be surprised by whatever new trick the Hokage had up her sleeve. He did wonder about that sudden tint to the Hokage's cheeks though, his mind drifting to the latest volume of Icha Icha and all the delights that lay within.

The group reached the end of their winding journey and Tsunade threw upon the dungeon door to reveal Haku, sans mask sitting on a stool in front of one of four occupied cells. He greeted them politely, with a small smile "Good afternoon Sasuke, Captain Hatake."

Kakashi straightened with shock, "Looks like there are some things left that will surprise me after all" he murmured as he lifted his headband to peer at the boy with his sharingan eye.

Sasuke's spun around to Tsunade his blood red eyes whirling with triple black blades, "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "He's dead. We saw him die right in front of us. Kakashi killed him."

Kakashi cut off Tsunade from answering, "Forbidden ninjutsu. _Impure World Resurrection_" he intoned. "A life for a life, or an unlife as it were. Immortal puppets, enslaved to the will of the summoner and gifted with the skills they had when they lived. They are fearsome weapons… though, I don't remember hearing of them being this lively" he said after a pause, eyeing the grinning Haku in confusion. The dead boy was chatting with Naruto as if he was normal teenager, rather than animated killer cremation ash. At the first glance only the faintest of lines crisscrossing his face hinted at his origin, you could almost be forgiven for thinking him alive, but a closer inspection revealed his lack of breath.

Frowning at Kakashi in annoyance Tsunade corrected him, "There's a reason for that. While I wouldn't call this pure, it's not quite the same technique that my granduncle created or Orochimaru stole. The ritual is now completed with a seal that grants the summoned free will."

Sasuke grunted in disdain, "So, that makes the technique morally ambiguous enough to use then?"

Whether he thought the distinction too small, or the distinction unnecessary at all, Tsunade couldn't tell. "Who are you going to summon next?" he asked.

Naruto cut in with a grin, "Well there are four of us Sasuke, and four prisoners so the better question is who do WE want to summon?"

Sasuke gaped in surprise as understanding struck, his mind a whirl at the possibilities, and flashing back to that awful scene. His father sprawled across the top of his mother, the two lying in a pool of their own blood. He shook his head, trying to recall the happier times, his mother's gentle smile and warm encouragement, his father praising him for a job well done, but it all came back to that hateful night.

Tsunade startled him out of his introspection, "Well it's not quite that simple Naruto. The ninja we summon are going to have to work well together in a black ops team. Your mother was best friends with Sasuke's mother, so it makes more sense to summon her rather than his father." She turned to Sasuke, "I presume you don't have any objections?"

'You shouldn't presume anything' he thought bitterly, mouth grimacing in a silent snarl. "My father was not an easy man to get along with, but for outsiders to point it out like that so backhandedly is patently offensive." He answered with anger simmering in his voice. Then he sighed, the anger slowly bleeding away from him, "Still, I can't deny that of the two I'd rather see my mother again." Continuing to himself he added, 'Besides, it's not like my father would have anything left to teach me anyways. I'm nearly as strong as Kakashi now.'

Tsunade gave him a critical eye, 'Well, aren't you ready to see the negative in everything Uchiha related,' she thought darkly. 'I can only hope that your mother doesn't do anything rash. Mikoto knew about the coup, that was clear from the archives. But how much she was involved, her approval or disapproval, that was unclear. I can only hope she'll act with restraint, learn of Sasuke's and the village's current situation first and then let sleeping dogs lie in the interests of protecting her son. She was never as prideful as her husband, so there's some hope…'

Tsunade would rather not take the risk of resurrecting any Uchihas, but Naruto would never be able to keep his mother secret from his teammate and that would surely prompt Sasuke to start digging into why he was not awarded the same privilege, and that could lead to disastrous revelations.

She inwardly shook her head in wary resignation. That whole situation was so strange. 'Sarutobi must have been going senile to let Danzo and the others talk him into giving Itachi a genocidal mission like that.' She shook her head as she once again contemplated the insanity of that whole sequence of events. No matter how many times she read the encrypted file in his log, nothing could make it seem to make sense. 'So unlike sensei to assent to something like that, assassinating Fugaku and his strongest supporters on the clan council and replacing them with Itachi and Shisui should have been more than enough. And for Itachi to actually succeed in killing everyone, even with the mangekyou…? It just doesn't seem possible.'

"Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi questioned hopefully, prodding her out of her self reflection. The others were looking at her expectantly. 'No time to hash over that mystery, I'll deal with it if it comes up. Time to roll the dice.' She answered him with a soft look in her brown eyes, "Ah, Kakashi no doubt you hope for Obito, but his remains lie buried in a foreign country and I do not think it wise to tamper with that eye of yours." She paused, and then continued, "This may be presumptuous of me, but while Obitio witnessed your change of heart as he lay dying, your father's last memories of you were of disapproval. Wouldn't you like for him to see the man that you've become?"

Kakashi closed his eye in a smile, and breathed out a long slow breath that he hadn't realized he'd kept in. "Yes, Lady Tsunade, I would. There is much unfinished business to be discussed and amends to be made."

"And what about you Granny?" Naruto asked curiously. "Who are you going to bring back?"

She smiled sadly, "There's really only one option. I can't subject a child to a life of undeath, never able to grow up. That leaves Dan..." She trailed off in worry, 'I only hope he can understand and accept what I've done.'

She cast off her doubts, it was time to begin the ceremony. "Bring the two prisoners in the middle cells before me, I'll revive the two women first, then Kakashi's father and Dan."

Sasuke and Naruto dragged the two prisoners forward, they were of a size with the two to be revived. One a black haired woman in her mid-thirties, the other a young man with disfiguring scar across the right side of his face. They hadn't been tortured like the prisoner who'd been used to revive Haku, but they didn't struggle. They'd been put under with a heavy genjutsu, they didn't realize what was going on. They stared ahead of them, eyes dead to the world.

Tsunade knelt down and unfurled two scrolls along the stone, grunge encrusted floor. She took out two vials, and poured out the DNA slurry onto the scrolls. Once again vile sigils roiled forth, this time pushing against each other in an obscene display of clashing and entangling runes. The two seal arrays actually pushing the two victims two meters further away from each other so that the two arrays could form properly aligned and in full.

The prisoners convulsed, back arching, veins bulging and skin writhing as they let out mournful keens while being engulfed by clouds of ash and dust. Those who had not yet witnessed such a sight watched in amazement as before their eyes the ash shaped itself into the forms of two beautiful women, marred by a cracked gray pallor. Even as the two women began to come aware as if wakened from a sleep that had spanned eons, Tsunade flickered behind them and planted sealed kunai in their skulls, then flickered back to stand in front of them.

"What? What's going on?" The woman on the left asked sounding confused. She was in her early to mid-twenties with a rounded face, long red hair and violet blue eyes.

The raven haired woman on the right stopped whatever she was about to say and looked over at the red head in surprise, "Kushina?" she asked incredulously. "But you're dead!"

Then she looked down at herself in disbelief, "I was dead," she whispered.

Kushina whipped her head around to look at her friend, hair lashing through the air in an impressive display. "Mikoto? Like, what are you doing here? Where are we?" she asked with a surprised tone in her voice, turning to look around at their surroundings. It looked like they were in a dungeon and there were a few young ninja looking curiously at her that she didn't know. There was one person she definitely knew though.

"Princess Tsunade? Like, what's going on?" she asked in confusion. Then her eyes widened as she looked beyond her at a tall one eyed man with spikey silver hair. "Kakashi-kun!? Is that you?" Kushina asked, stunned.

Kakashi gave her that closed eye smile, "It sure is Kushina, it's good to have you back."

Then the young Uchiha standing next to him spoke, his voice breaking and a face that had seemed as cold as any hardened killer melted. "Mother!" In an instant he was on his knees in front of Mikoto, taking her in his arms and letting out choking sobs as he buried his head into her shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun" she said softly, patting his head gently. "It's going to be alright". Seeing Sasuke so grown up, healthy and strong was such an overwhelming relief, but she forced herself to keep it together for his sake.

'Sasuke!' Kushina thought incredulously. 'He was an infant last time I saw him. That was the day that…', and with a sharp intake of breath it all came back to her in a rush. "The Kyuubi" she gasped. One of the shinobi in front of her flinched, drawing her eye. He looked so much like Minato it was stunning, blonde spikey hair and soft blue eyes. There was a slight roundness to his face, symmetrical and perfect with the exception of three horizontal lines, marks of a jinchuriki's child. "Naruto!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet, seeing her own face now in those soft lines.

"Mom?" he asked in a wavering voice, as he took one slow step toward her before barreling into her at full speed. "Mom!" he stuttered as tears began to run down his face, "I've…It's like…I've always wanted to meet you."

She smiled as she hugged him back, "It's like... you really are my son," she said.

He leaned back with a big smile, arms open wide. "There's so many things I wanna talk to you about, Mom!"

"Yeah, we'll have a long talk about everything," she said softly. "We've got a lifetime worth of stories and catching up to do." She grinned in anticipation, but that grin slid away as she thought of more serious matters. "But first we have talk about what really happened that day, you, me and the Hokage."

"You can say whatever you need to say here," Tsunade declared, hand on her hip. "The only one who doesn't know about your son is Sasuke and he's a jonin and a teammate of Naruto's. With his eyes, there's no doubt he'll discover the truth the next time Naruto has to go all out."

That caught Mikoto's interest, 'So, he's trusted is he? The sins of his father have not followed him?' That was more than she could have hoped for and she felt a palpable feeling of relief. Worry followed though, gnawing at her. 'My resurrection is dangerous to him, Am I some kind of test to see if he is truly loyal to the village?' she wondered. 'I'll need to tread carefully and scout out the lay of the land before making waves', she thought with apprehension. 'Even asking the wrong question could be dangerous to Sasuke.'

"But, like, what about the Hokage?" Kushina asked in confusion.

Tsunade frowned in annoyance. "Is me being Hokage so implausible that the option just skipped your mind?"

Kushina's face flushed and she started waving her hands around in embarrassment, "No, no! It's just that I assumed the Third would take up the mantle again unless he was able to convince Lord Jiraiya."

"The Old Man put the hat back on and was a great Hokage!" Naruto proclaimed, arms crossed, nodding his head in emphasis.

"Yes, sensei was the embodiment of the will of fire to the end, a bright red flame that I picked up and burned Orochimaru to ash with." Tsunade said solemnly. Memories of Sarutobi sensei, the bad terms they left on and the slow descent of her teammate to madness still troubled her.

"Oh…" Kushina said, realizing in dismay 'I see where that story goes. I'll get the whole thing later.'

"Well, here goes," she paused to take a calming breath. She'd only personally ever told Minato about her burden. "The truth is, I… I was the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox."

"What!" Naruto roared in shock. "You…Mom, you were the Nine Tails jinchuriki?" He asked in stunned amazement.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow in surprise, 'Like Gaara then,' he thought as he shifted his gaze to Naruto, 'I wonder…'

As Sasuke pondered the source of Naruto's power his mother stiffened in surprise at the announcement. 'Kushina, I never knew…the burden must have been so heavy' Mikoto thought in dismay.

"Yes," Kushina answered. " But before I tell you what went down, you should know more about me and where I come from. My story goes back to the Senju and Uzumaki clans and the founding of their respective villages, The Hidden Leaf and The Hidden Eddy. The clans themselves were related by blood, and the village ties between Leaf and Eddy were far closer than any other shinobi villages."

She continued, "The people of the Eddy Village in general and the Uzumaki clan in particular were all blessed with strong chakras and long life, so much so that our village became known as The Village of Longevity. We were renowned for the power of our sealing techniques, renowned and feared." She stopped, and looked down at her son's midsection. "The four element seal on your stomach is based on techniques from my village. In fact, I taught your dad a whole bunch of different seals."

'So it's true, that certainly explains things…especially that fight with Gaara' Sasuke thought, flashing back to that awesome battle and the overwhelming power of the cackling Shukaku and the transformation of Gamabunta into an enormous nine tailed fox.

Naruto shifted his eyes to take a peek at Sasuke, but he had the same aloof look on his face as always. 'Looks like he doesn't care,' he thought in relief. He hadn't thought he would, but there was always that fear, gnawing away in the back of his head that the truth would push his precious people away.

Kushina pressed on, "The whirlpool on the back of Konoha flak jackets is the old symbol of the Eddy village. To this day The Leaf use it as symbol of friendship and good will."

Tsunade grunted in annoyance "This is interesting and all for the kids I'm sure, but can we get to the point? You can tell Naruto your life story later."

Kushina took the interruption good naturedly, "Impatient as always Princess Tsunade." Shaking her head she went on, "the point is that your grandmother Mito Uzamaki came from the Hidden Eddy Village and she played a pivotal role in the battle at the Valley of the End between Uchiha Madara and her husband Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. For after the First had gained control of the Nine Tails she sealed the Fox into her own body, becoming its first jinchuriki. Years later, when she had grown old, because of my powerful and unique chakra I was sent to become the second."

"What does that backstory have to do with what happened to you on the day the Kyuubi broke free?" asked Tsunade in confusion.

Naruto was glad that for once he wasn't the only one lost. 'It's cool to hear about Mom's history and all, but what could stuff from that long have to do with how or why the Fox attacked Konoha?'

"Well, it's just that Uchiha Madara wasn't as dead as we thought." Kushina deadpanned.

"Impossible!" Tsunade shouted, astonishment etched in her face. "My grandfather couldn't have been wrong!"

"He used the Sharingan to rip the Fox from my seal, was incredibly powerful and able to phase through solid matter and the strongest of barriers." Kushina shot back. "Minato managed to drive him off, but couldn't manage to land a fatal blow. Who else could stand against The Fourth?"

Sasuke's ears perked up at the tone of her voice, 'the way she speaks of The Fourth, could he be?', he shifted his eyes to Naruto, 'looking confused as usual, dumbass'.

Mikoto spoke up clearly troubled. "A mature sharingan can pacify a tailed beast if used skillfully, but to pull it from a jinchuriki…that takes the Mangekyo. Aside from Madara, I don't know who it could be. After him, no one had the potential and the lust for power to gain it until…" she trailed off, unable to say her eldest son's name. Sasuke stiffened in her arms, and she could feel the cold rage flowing through him. "Madara being around solves another mystery as well. He must have been the other man in the district."

"Other man?" Sasuke asked in surprise, staring at his mother, face twisted in consternation. "I didn't see anyone but Itachi," he insisted vehemently.

Mikoto got a faraway look in her eyes as she cast her mind back to those awful, last moments. "We didn't realize anything was wrong until Itachi walked through the door. That broke the hold of the genjutsu that was cast on the district. There was screaming, and the sound of battle. He had an accomplice."

"I always thought it strange that Itachi was able to annihilate the whole clan, and in such little time." Tsunade said contemplatively while she wondered 'Could he have stirred up the whole coup in the first place?' There were too many questions, too many places, people and events that could have the fingerprint of his influence or been completely unrelated at all.

Mikoto sucked in a sharp breath, 'The whole clan! They couldn't!...No, no time to grieve now.' She managed to quickly pull herself together and go on. "Madara's existence also solves the question of motive. Itachi would have never taken the sordid steps to gain the Mangekyo without being under control. He never would have betrayed and attacked the family he loved so much!" She exclaimed each line with fervent certainty, smashing down the voice in the back of her head that suggested he might truly have loved the village more. "Those last few weeks he was totally out of it, his words completely irrational. We should have seen it with his erratic behavior, textbook tells that he was under genjutsu. But we never imagined that Itachi's eyes could fall to it and simply assumed it was the stress."

'Huh, that's actually plausible even given everything I know about Danzo's involvement. Could Orochimaru or even Sensei fallen victim to the same? How far does this rabbit hole go', Tsunade wondered.

Sasuke was staring up at his mother, mouth open in surprise. "Brother…he was…," he stammered in confusion. He had never considered that his brother wasn't solely responsible. 'But he was mad, so obviously insane. How could I not have seen this possibility?', he asked himself in disgust.

"So, he's the man behind Akatsuki then, Uchiha Madara," Kakashi said cooly, as if he was just stating the weather. "Well, one more S class ninja on top of the rest hardly makes a difference".

Tsunade gave him a sidewise glance that said he was full of shit, while Naruto could barely restrain himself from going full blown Gai and ranting about his sensei being too cool and laid back.

"Akatsuki?" Mikoto asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"An organization of S-class missing nins dedicated to the collection of the tailed beasts. Their goal is unknown, but it can't benign and your son is a member."

Sasuke glowered, 'It all makes sense now. No wonder Itachi was after Naruto. How did I not see this before!,' he castigated himself.

Mikoto could sense he son's seething frustration. She rubbed his back and leaned forward, "It's going to be alright," she whispered to him. Then she looked up at Tsunade, "Hokagesama, do you mind…?"

"No, of course not," Tsunade answered with a shake of her head. "Both you go off and make up for lost time. Catchup on all you missed, meet Sasuke's wife, etc," she said, dismissing Sasuke and Naruto with a flick of her hand.

"We are not married!" Sauske insisted, sounding as if the very idea was terrifying.

"You might want to change that before the twins arrive," Tsunade advised nonchalantly, "Anko's probably going to want to distribute the pain of labor on the one she sees as responsible, I'd latch onto every possibility for mercy I can if I were you," she teased.

Sasuke's stoic face went pale at the thought.

"Ankochan's pregnant!" Kushina gasped in shock, having a hard time envisioning the homicidal little tomboy she remembered being in a family way.

Mikoto was just as surprised, Anko had never struck her as the motherly type. Then she frowned, "Anko's more than ten years your senior!", she gasped in outrage. Grabbing her son by the ear she dragged him out of the room, spluttering in protest as she hectored him with maternal outrage. "I can't believe this! You're what?15 or 16 years old? That's too young to…"

Naruto gapped at the spectacle, then started laughing. It was a laughter that bubbled up from deep inside him. A laughter that just couldn't stop, a laughter that had him doubled over, shaking with mirth, as tears welled in his eyes. He slumped against his mother as she cackled like a loon, head thrown back, red hair waving.

With a smile, Tsunade rolled her eyes in amusement, brought her hands together and created a shadow clone. "Get these two out of here and settled in," she ordered. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…", her clone grumbled, grabbing the two and then flickering away with Shunshin_. _

Tsunade turned to Kakashi, and her big grin faded to a wistful smile. "Well, I guess it's our turn now."


End file.
